A benevolent master of Winchester College who changed the Andover skyline

WILLIAM Stanley Goddard was born in Stepney, to John and Elizabeth Goddard, in October 1757. Initially they led a comfortable life, but a reversal in his father’s fortunes meant that William entered Winchester College as one of the 16 Quiristers, who earned their education by singing in the Chapel and carrying out domestic duties. By the age of 14, however, as a capable classical scholar, he had become a Commoner, and was relieved of menial tasks. Unable to secure a scholarship to New College, he progressed instead to Merton College, Oxford, where he gained a BA in 1781 and an MA two years later.

By this time, Goddard had returned to Winchester as a Commoner tutor and at the age of 27 he became a Hostiarius, or Second Master. This was an eventful period in his life, as he married Henrietta Gale, daughter of Thomas Gale of Andover and they took under their wing Martha Waite, his wife’s niece, who was aged ten at the time.

College life, too, was proving eventful. From 1766 the school was under the leadership of Dr Joseph Warton and it proved to be a period of lax discipline and low morale. This set off three revolts among the pupils, culminating in the ‘Great Rebellion’ of 1793, which saw Dr Warton on his way. It also resulted in a number of pupil expulsions, such that the college was reduced to just 41 Commoners. Into the breach stepped William Goddard, as the new Informator or Headmaster and it is a tribute to his capabilities that, over the next 16 years, he increased the number of boys to 130, and added three assistant masters.

Henry Adam’s Wykehamia provides a pen portrait of the man himself, who gained his Doctorship in Divinity in 1795. ‘In personal appearance Doctor Goddard did not exceed middle height. He had a very handsome face with a clear blue eye and a kindly smile. He always dined at two o’ clock before going into afternoon school and appeared afterwards in full dress, his wig perfectly powdered, his cassock, black silk stockings and the buckles in his shoes, all in the trimmest order.’ As Head he was described as ‘a just, honourable and perfectly impartial master, on whose kind assistance every well-conducted boy might rely.’

On his retirement in 1810, Dr Goddard was presented with a silver goblet, as a mark of appreciation by his colleagues, but his departure by no means severed his links with the college. At his substantial house in Newbury Street, Andover, or elegant London home at Cadogan Place, Chelsea, he was ‘never so happy as when he was surrounded by those who had been educated under his presidency’.

Although he was given a number of ecclesiastical responsibilities, at Salisbury, St Paul’s Cathedral and Wherwell, these were honorary rather than paid appointments and left him free to consider his next spate of good works. He contributed to the first National School in Andover, built in East Street in 1818, and purchased a number of old properties to enable the improving of the town’s principal streets. He also restored Foxcotte Chapel, installing a curate to facilitate regular services there. This latter is an indication of where the Gale family wealth was rooted, in the Lordship of the Manor of Foxcotte, with considerable holdings in St Mary Bourne, Horsebridge, Fordingbridge and further afield.

Both Henrietta Goddard and Martha Waite, the cared-for niece, who changed her name to Gale, had been well-provided for in Thomas Gale’s will (d 1800) and with the death of his wife in 1830, William Goddard, now 73, began to dispose of his wealth for the benefit of others. He gave £25,000 to Winchester College to pay for the salaries of the masters, to relieve parents of their obligation to meet these with gratuities, a long-standing practice, but one which was against the college statutes. He then turned his attention to the principal place of worship in Andover, St Mary’s Church, located near to his house in Newbury Street.

In 1835 the Rev Charles Ridding, late of Winchester College, became the first vicar of Andover to reside in the parish for over 60 years. It’s probable that the two men agreed that St Mary’s, ‘as old as the reign of the Conqueror’ was too small for the population of the ‘agreeable little town’ and in addition, the tower was considered unsafe. Dr Goddard’s Winchester connections recommended a promising young architect, Augustus F Livesay of Portsea, as someone who could design a dignified, yet modestly priced, building in ‘the medieval style’ and by 1840 the church governors, or Vestry, had unanimously agreed to the proposal, to be funded by ‘an anonymous donor’.

The surviving correspondence between architect and benefactor shows how closely Dr Goddard was involved in the project, despite his advancing years. Details include references to ‘the Cheltenham Church’ which was to provide a model for some of the interior layout, to flint work resembling the old gatehouse at Winchester College and to a tower ‘made a striking character externally for the distant view’. Little progress was made initially, however, because of the difficulty in deciding on the exact site. In the event it was the architect’s fifth and least favoured location that was chosen and one which was to overlap with the existing church ‘the Body of which was not to be disturbed until the new Erection was nearly completed’.

At last, in April 1841, the necessary Faculty was approved, with the contractor, Mr Dashwood from the Isle of Wight, proposing to ‘execute the whole of the works described’ for £10,279. Caen stone was shipped via the Andover canal and things progressed well until the builders reached the clerestory windows and roof. Then, on 3 June 1842 disaster struck. As reported in the Hampshire Chronicle there was ‘…a tremendous crash at 5.30am…caused by the falling in of the new roof of the new church. A workman…raised the alarm, but scarce had he done so when the whole roof came down, bringing with it 15 or 20 men employed in shifting the scaffolding. We regret the loss of one man, William Bull, who met immediate death and has left a widow with a young family to lament his untimely death.’

Feelings in the town ran high. Many Andoverians had resented the destruction of their ancient church without any public consultation, while local tradesmen begrudged the use of outside labour. Augustus Livesay, the architect, feared that his reputation was at stake. The inquest on William Bull sat three times before a verdict of ‘accidental death’ was returned, the stated cause being a defect in a column in the north aisle.

Sidney Smirke, architect of the British Museum Reading Room, was called in as consultant and work eventually re-commenced. Two years later all was in place for the first service, in August 1844. But it was to be another two years before the old church was fully demolished and the tower ‘made…for the distant view’ completed, with a notable increase in cost. By that time Dr Goddard had died, peacefully at Brighton, at the age of 88, unaware of the full visual impact of his ‘kind act by the parish’ but able to ‘thank God that I have not lived in vain’.

For more on Hampshire history, visit: www.hampshirearchivestrust.co.uk. and www.hantsfieldclub.org.uk